A Puzzling Time
by LittleHobbit13
Summary: Nobody wants to make enemies on the first day at a new school, but when Kagome arrives at her new kindergarten, she's runs afoul of Naraku, the class bully.  Luckily, she's picking up friends, too, and Inuyasha and Sango and everyone are happy to help!


**Disclaimer:** I own the story, but not the characters. Credit where credit is due, to Ms. Takahashi.

**Reader notice:** I'm mostly trying to practice my writing skills, so PLEASE give constructive criticism if you so desire. (For example, if the dialogue doesn't feel like "kindergarten" level, hint-hint. Also if you can't picture anything well, let me know, because I feel like I need to work on my ability to paint the setting.) I'll try to keep this story regularly updated on a timeline of at least one chapter every couple of months (or sooner), but if there's enough interest, I promise to try to be quicker with updates than currently planned.

Chapter 01

First days are always the hardest, especially if you're a new student. Because she had started to show signs of power manifestation, Kagome Higurashi had been asked to change schools. Sengoku Kindergarten was specially designed to foster the growth and power maturation of children with demon blood or with spiritual power. There was also a minority of students having neither, but still claiming legitimate relation to one or both. And so, when she accidentally shocked a toad with her powers during recess, Kagome's mother had been given a phone number and was politely told to transfer her daughter. It was not a horrible school, though; more than a "freak show". At first glance, it was no different than a public school. There were classes...well, there were lessons. The children were taught their letters are numbers; their colors and shapes. They were given most of the day for recess or indoor play, because after all, gifted or not they all still had the attention spans of 5 or 6 year olds. The school teachers were all specialists, given special training to deal with any problem that might arise. The school itself had two wings: a red one for those practiced with their skills, and the other (blue) for those in the early stages of development. In a bright green dress with puffy sleeves and a child-size bag on her back, Kagome entered her new classroom in the blue wing.

Shocked is a good way to describe the way Kagome felt. Her mother had told her that her new classmates might seem...strange, but this was beyond what Kagome defined as strange. There were many boys and girls that looked perfectly normal, but the majority looked (and seemed to act) like animals!

"Ah! Miss Kagome, we've been expecting you. Please come in," said the teacher with a smile. Kagome took a hesitant step into the room. "Class, please welcome a new addition. This is Kagome Higurashi, and she's learning to be a priestess. Now, where shall we put you...?" Anxiety took over the young girl's legs and backed her up in hasty retreat, right into another pair of legs.

"Watch it, kid," said the older boy. Walking around her, he headed over to the teacher. he pulled a red lump from his shoulder and handed it to her. "Miss Kaede, he wouldn't get up, so he's in his pajamas again today. I have to get over to the High School now, or I'll be late."

"Yes, thank you, Sesshomaru." The red bundle stirred in her arms, and a head covered in white hair emerged.

"Time to wake up, Inuyasha," Kaede said while smoothing out his hair so it resembled a bird's nest a little less. When she proceeded to place him on his feet and straighten his footie pajamas with practiced motions, Kagome realized this must happen a lot. Kaede asked the boy, Inuyasha, to lead Kagome to her seat at his table.

"Feh," he grumbled, but Kagome found herself being led by the cuff of her sleeve to a round table in the back corner of the room. There was already another girl sitting there, and she grinned as Kagome sat down next to her.

"Nice to meet you! My name is Sango. Want to be friends?" the girl said.

"Sure! Do you have powers, too?" Kagome asked.

"No. I come here because my family, for as far back as our ancestors go, works as demon exterminators. At least, that's what my Daddy told me. When I get older, I'll get to help him fight all the bad demons and protect people!" (Kagome silently was amazed that Sango had such a clear plan for when she grew up.) Miss Kaede announced that they would be starting with arts and crafts, and Sango ran up to get in line for supplies. With her new friends gone, Kagome turned to Inuyasha. For the first time, though probably because of the way he had his head down on the table, Kagome noticed the white animal ears on the top of his head.

"What are you starring at me for?" he asked grumpily without even raising his head. Kagome paused out of surprise before answering.

"Are you one of the demons my Mama told me about?"

"Maybe." Probably meant yes.

"Are you a dog or a kitty?" Inuyasha grumbled something about her words being too cute to describe him. Without an answer, Kagome decided to find out for herself by touching them. The very moment Inuyasha felt the tug on his ear, Kagome found his grabbing a handful of her dark hair and pulling down hard.

"**Ow!** What did you do that for!"

"That's how it feels when you pull on my ear! Don't touch me, you stupid girl!" he said angrily. He scooted his chair out of her reach and resettled himself. At couple of girls at a nearby table giggled at the interaction, but were ignored besides a brief blush of embarrassment from Kagome.

"Don't listen to anything he says," said Sango, returning to the table. "He's a half dog demon, and not nearly as mean as he wants everyone to think he is."

"Do you ever keep your mouth shut, Sango? You're so annoying!" interrupted Inuyasha. Sango just stuck her tongue out at him. Kagome half-heartedly suppressed a laugh, and was happy that her new friends were so nice."

"Are you friends with everyone in class, Sango?" asked Kagome out of curiosity.

"Almost. Most of the kids in class are pretty nice. The only kids you should stay away from are Naraku and his friends. He's not nice at all, and he's too powerful for his part of school." Sango pointed out a dark-haired, bully-looking boy at a table across the room. "He's supposed to be in the red wing with the other experienced students, but he keeps tricking the teachers into putting him in this wing when we do power-level testing. He thinks it's funny to pick on the weaker and newer kids and bully them around. You should stay away from him, and hope he stays away from you."

"Thanks for the warning, Sango. You're really responsible. That must be why Miss Kaede told me to sit here."

"I have to be responsible," said Sango, her chest puffing with a bit of pride. "My Daddy's job has weird times, so a lot of the time I have to take care of my little brother and my cat all on my own."

"You have a little brother? My mama says I'm gonna have a little brother or sister soon, too!" Inuyasha, currently massacring a sheet of paper with a pair of safety scissors, snorted what might have been a laugh.

"Do you have a brother or sister, Inuyasha?" asked Kagome.

"'Course I do. My brother brings me to school every day." Kagome remembered back to the older boy she had bumped into.

"Wow. Your brother is really tall! How come your mom doesn't bring you to school?"

"Because she and my Dad died. Car crash about two years ago. Sesshomaru says we got a lot of money from them, or something like that. Anyways, that's why my brother can take care of me."

"Oh. I'm sorry if I made you feel bad," said Kagome. "Do you miss them a lot?"

"I miss my mom a lot sometimes, especially when Sesshomaru's being a jerk, but my dad wasn't around a lot 'cause of his job, so I don't remember him so much. Pass me another piece of paper." Kagome handed him one, and Inuyasha ended the conversation by attacking his new victim.

"There are a couple of kids like that in the class," said Sango, filling the silence. "My mom died when my brother was born. Free time is next, Kagome. Want to play a game together?"

"You want to help me with my puzzle? My Daddy mailed it to me. He's in...um...England. For work. A lot of it is the same color though, so I'm having trouble."

"I love puzzles! I did one last year with birds on it!" The girls talked about various things for the rest of the crafts time, and then Kagome pulled out her puzzled for free time. As the girls started working on it, Sango agreed at its trickiness. Inuyasha didn't help, but he stayed at the table and watched. The other kids did other activities. Some girls were playing with dolls and toys; some of the more active boys had gone outside to play. The only ones still at their tables were Kagome, Sango, and Inuyasha, and Naraku and his friends, who were getting up and heading...towards them. Kagome quickly nudged Sango's side, and Sango squinted when she saw why. Naraku stopped right behind Kagome and seemed to ignore the stares he was getting from Inuyasha and Sango.

"Hey, new girl. Show me your powers. If you're strong enough, I'll let you be part of my group," Naraku announced. Kagome slowly turned in her seat to face him. She had already confirmed Sango's assessment just from his words, but the over-confident smirk he wore made sure she'd never doubt it.

"I don't know how to use my powers yet. Besides, my mama said I shouldn't use them without a good reason," Kagome told him nervously.

"Trying to be my friend isn't a good reason? Using powers is easy enough. Just put your hand on the mutt and wish that he wasn't around anymore." Inuyasha shot up out of his seat and Sango was close behind him. Naraku looked at Inuyasha as if daring him to do something. Naraku may have only been six-years-old, but he acted with all the evilness of an adult murderer. Kagome didn't like the vibe she was getting off of Naraku, but she didn't want to cause a fight on her first day.

"I don't think that'd be a very nice thing to do, and...and I don't know if I want to play with someone who would suggest it." Kagome steeled herself as she burned the bridge.

"Oh yeah? I guess you think you're better than us then. I think you're just nervous on your first day. I'll talk to you again tomorrow and see if you've changed your mind. One day with these losers should be more than enough time to do it," taunted Naraku. He and his followers left to go outside.

"You're kind of dumb," said Inuyasha, sitting back down. ("Hey!" said Kagome.) "But you're pretty brave. It wasn't a great idea to challenge him like that, but-"

"-but it was the right thing to do," finished Sango. She smiled at Kagome.

"He felt really mean! And Inuyasha, that wasn't a nice thing he said about you!" Kagome responded.

"I'm not afraid of that jerk!" countered Inuyasha.

"Well that's because **you're** dumb," snapped Sango. "Don't listen to him, Kagome. If you ever see them starting to get seriously into it, just tell the teacher." Kagome hesitantly nodded again, glancing at a frowning Inuyasha, who clearly looked like he felt that Sango needed to mind her own business.

"Let's work on the puzzled some more, okay, Kagome?" The girls went back to work, and Inuyasha wandered off to play with some of the other boys. When Sango would point to the other kids to connect them with a name, Kagome would occasionally peek at Inuyasha. He clearly wasn't paying the table any attention, but she did notice that he looked up every time someone came in from outside. Of course, Kagome couldn't tell if he was keeping guard, or waiting for a chance to pick a fight, though he hoped it was the first one.

When free time ended, they moved on to letters and numbers, and then onto lunch, followed by more free time, and finally a nap. Kagome and Sango lined up next to each other and shared whispered giggles. At one point, Inuyasha (lying across from Sango) kicked her in the foot and told them to shut up. With quick motions, Sango snatched away his blanket, threw it squarely into his face just as he sat up, and was back down again before she could be blamed for any commotion.

After nap time, the three played outside until it was time to go.

"How was it?" asked Kagome's mother, as she and Kagome got into the car.

"It was good. My teacher's really nice, and I made a couple of friends already. There's one mean kid, too, though! I'm not gonna be around him."

"Well, just be careful. It's not good to pick fights, and these kids are different from who you're used to."

"I'll be careful!" Kagome then went into more detail about her day as they drove home.

* * *

So there it is, the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully you'll be back for chapter 02. ^_^


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